I live in a house built in 1943, original panels were 2- SQ D 2-pole Multibreaker load centers nippled together over the kitchen counter providing the generous sum of 4 circuits in the entire house, the last of which was removed in the early 1980's, The SQ D, Cutler-Hammer XO replaced the Multibreakers which in turn was obsolete by about 1960, replaced by SQ D QO & Cutler-Hammer type CH series.
Some raintite enclosures were avail in the 50's but IMO due to the lack of inspections or other factors a lot of "indoor" equipment was used outdoors because no one made them use the correct gear or build a dog house around it.
